Backstage with the winners of the IGF and GDC Awards

Third Eye Crime combines a stealth game with a psychic twist

I saw quite a few really terrific indie games at GDC last week, but Third Eye Crime was one of my favorites on iOS. It's being put together by a studio called Moonshot Games, made up of game industry veterans working on mobile games together after having some bad experiences with console publishing. Third Eye Crime is a stealth game, where you need to sneak around a series of levels while trying to avoid armed guards. But the twist here is that you've got some psychic ability, so not only can you see where the guards are looking (always important in games like this), but you can see where they're planning to look next, and lay out your escape route accordingly.

It's very interesting just how much this changes the game. In Third Eye Crime, guards never really give up, so once you've attracted their attention, it's a game of diving in and out of various hidey-holes, constantly trying to dodge your pursuers. And you literally have to stay one step ahead of them, keeping an eye on where they are and where they're going, so you can duck out safely. Fortunately, you get access to a few other tools, like a "patsy" spell that will create a fake clone of you, or other various abilities. But your enemies have some extra moves as well: I saw sniper enemies that can take you out with one shot right away.

Unfortunately, Third Eye Crime isn't quite done -- the graphics looked good, but there were definitely a few optimization issues and rough areas that still could use some smoothing out. The idea is quite well-done, however, and it should have enough juice to keep the game rolling for the expected 80 to 100 levels. Third Eye Crime is set to arrive on iOS sometime around early June.